/documentation/android_access/phones.html
HTML | 430 lines | 373 code | 45 blank | 12 comment | 0 complexity | fcea9e8473f5c03a6c708b55bf7ab0f7 MD5 | raw file
1<!-- Copyright 2010 Google Inc. 2 Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); 3 you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. 4 You may obtain a copy of the License at 5 6 http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 7 8 Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software 9 distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, 10 WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. 11 See the License for the specific language governing permissions and 12 limitations under the License. --> 13 14<html> 15<head> 16<title>Choosing a Phone - Android Accessibility</title> 17<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css"> 18</head> 19 20<body> 21<div id="main_body"> 22 23<h1>Choosing a phone</h1> 24 25<div class="nav"> 26<div class="nav_back"> </div> 27<div class="nav_up"><a href="index.html">Up: Android Accessibility</a></div> 28<div class="nav_next"><a href="enabling.html">Next: Enabling 29Accessibility</a></div> 30</div> 31 32<p>There are more than 50 phones worldwide (as of August 2010) that run 33versions of the Android operating system. We will list a few of the more 34popular models below, but here are the most important things to know before 35choosing an accessible phone:</p> 36 37<p>1. <strong>Android version</strong>. Each phone comes with a particular 38version of the Android operating system. While the operating system version can 39be upgraded at a later date, it is up to the individual carriers to make such 40updates available. Since it is hard to predict when these updates will occur, 41you should plan on purchasing a phone that already has features that you will 42be happy with. The following is a list of available Android versions.</p> 43 44<p>Android versions are sometimes referred to by their code names, which are 45generally names of desserts starting with a successive letter of the 46alphabet.</p> 47<p> 48<ul> 49 <li>Android 1.5: Cupcake 50 <li>Android 1.6: Donut 51 <li>Android 2.0 or 2.1: Eclair 52 <li>Android 2.2: Froyo (short for frozen yogurt) 53 <li>Android 2.3: Gingerbread 54 <li>Android 3.1: Honeycomb 55 <li>Android 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich 56</ul> 57</p> 58 59<p>Android 1.6 was the first version with accessibility support. Support was 60substantially improved in Android 2.0, and support for touchscreen-only devices 61was added in Android 4.0 For more information about what accessibility features 62were introduced in each version, see the <a href="versions.html">Android 63Version Guide</a>.</p> 64 65<div class="note"><span class="n">Important note: </span><p>Carriers and device 66manufacturers will sometimes create customized versions of the Android 67operating system. For example, HTC often ships phones that include a custom 68user interface called HTC Sense. Unfortunately, there is <strong>no 69guarantee</strong> that devices with customized Android operating systems 70include accessibility support. </p> 71<p>If you are wondering whether a particular device includes support for 72accessibility, you can check the list below. If the phone isn't listed there, 73it is best to check with the carrier or device manufacturer. Also, Wikipedia 74has a fairly comprehensive <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Android_devices">list of Android devices</a> including information on 75the version number and whether or not there is a keyboard.</p> 76<p>And be aware that even if a phone running a custom version of Android does 77include accessibility, the operating system may still have been altered 78enough that specific instructions in this guide may still not apply.</p></div> 79 80<p>2. <strong>Keyboard and tactile buttons.</strong> Android phones come in 81a variety of different physical configurations. A physical QWERTY keyboard and 82other tactile buttons can make it easier to perform certain actions without 83using touch-screen controls. The following is a list of physical buttons that 84you might find on an Android phone: 85 86<ul> 87 <li>Start call 88 <li>End call 89 <li>Back 90 <li>Menu 91 <li>Home 92 <li>Search 93 <li>Camera 94 <li>Volume up / down 95 <li>Power 96 <li>Directional pad or trackball and select button 97 <li>QWERTY keyboard 98</ul> 99</p> 100 101<p>The number of physical, tactile controls varies significantly by phone 102model. We recommend that you try out a phone at your local store to determine 103if it works well for you. If that is impossible, you can find detailed specs 104online and find a phone that has the keys that matter the most to you.</p> 105 106<p>Some phones have touch keys, also known as capacitive keys. These keys are 107invisible and feel like they're part of the screen, but they're actually 108separate, discrete regions. The phone gives you haptic (vibrational) feedback 109when you press one of these keys successfully, but it can be hard to position 110your finger in the right place before you get the feedback. Some people put a 111small piece of tape over the keys to make them more tactile.</p> 112 113<h2>Known-accessible Android phones with "Explore by touch" (as of December 114 2011)</h2> 115 116<p>The following devices run Android 4.0 or above and are touchscreen-accessible 117 via the "Explore by touch" feature.</p> 118 119<ul> 120 121 <li><strong>Galaxy Nexus</strong> (Android 4.0) 122 <ul> 123 <li>The first Android device with "Explore by touch" for accessible use 124 without a hardware keyboard.</li> 125 <li>Has only three tactile buttons (power, volume up, and volume down). 126 The Back, Home, Recent Apps, and Menu buttons appear at the bottom of 127 the touchscreen and are touch explorable.</li> 128 <li>On-screen keyboard is touch explorable.</li> 129 <li>Very fast and powerful.</li> 130 <li>In the U.S., available on Verizon.</li> 131 </li> 132 </ul> 133 134</ul> 135 136<h2>Known-accessible Android phones with keyboards (as of August 2010)</h2> 137 138<p>The following devices are our top recommendations for accessible phones. 139All have full QWERTY keyboards and are known to work well. For each device 140we've included a description of the physical tactile buttons and any touch 141(capacitive) buttons and their locations on the device.</p> 142 143<ul> 144 145 <li><strong>T-Mobile G2</strong> (Android 2.2) 146 <ul> 147 <li><div class="note"><span class="n">Please note:</span> Though this 148 phone is running the standard Android 2.2 operating system and includes 149 accessibility support, it does not come with TalkBack pre-installed. You 150 will have to install TalkBack from the Android Market yourself. You will 151 be guided through this process if you go to the Accessibility menu in the 152 Settings. For more information on this process, see the section on 153 <a href="enabling.html">Enabling Accessibility</a>.</div></li> 154 <li>Four touch buttons in a row below the screen for home, menu, back, 155 and search.</li> 156 <li>Beneath the touch buttons, there is a square flat touchpad. You can 157 move your finger over the touchpad to navigate left, right, up, and 158 down. The touchpad is clickable and functions as an enter key.</li> 159 <li>The touchpad can access everything that a directional pad can.</li> 160 <li>Slide-out tactile keyboard with thin soft keys.</li> 161 <li>The keyboard includes a QWERTY keyboard and tactile menu and search 162 keys.</li> 163 <li>The keyboard also includes three programmable tactile keys, one 164 located on the left of the spacebar and two on the right. Pressing one 165 of the programmable keys will take you to a menu where you can choose 166 an application or action to be associated with the key.</li> 167 <li>The keyboard does not have a directional pad or arrow keys.</li> 168 <li>There is no dedicated number row at the top of the letter keys. To 169 type numbers, you have to use the ALT keys.</li> 170 <li>Does not have a start or end call button. However, you have the 171 option to use the power button as the end call button. You can activate 172 this option in the settings menu.</li> 173 <li>The volume rocker and camera buttons are physical buttons located 174 along the top left and bottom right sides of the phone, respectively. 175 The power button is located along the top edge.</li> 176 <li>The phone is very fast and powerful.</li> 177 <li>In the U.S., available on T-Mobile.</li> 178 </ul> 179 </li> 180 181 <li><strong>LG Ally</strong> (Android 2.1) 182 <ul> 183 <li>Tactile buttons on the front for start call, 184 home, menu, and end call. There are touch keys above those for back and 185 search.</li> 186 <li>Slide-out tactile keyboard with large raised keys that are very easy 187 to type on.</li> 188 <li>When you slide out the keyboard, you get a QWERTY keyboard, a 189 four-direction pad with a select button in the center, and tactile 190 buttons for back, home, menu, and search.</li> 191 <li>Includes a dedicated number row at the top of the letter 192 keys.</li> 193 <li>Includes every physical button mentioned in the section above. The 194 volume rocker and camera buttons are physical buttons located on the 195 sides of the phone. The power button is located along the top edge.</li> 196 <li>Moderately fast and powerful.</li> 197 <li>In the U.S., this is available on Verizon.</li> 198 </ul> 199 </li> 200 201 <li><strong>Samsung Epic 4G</strong> (Custom Android 2.1) 202 <ul> 203 <li><div class="note"><span class="n">Please note:</span> This 204 phone runs a customized version of Android 2.1. However, this phone does 205 include support for accessibility, and TalkBack is included. But keep in 206 mind that not all applications bundled with this phone by the carrier or 207 Samsung are accessible. For more information on accessible 208 applications, please see the <a href="apps.html"> the section on 209 apps</a>.</div></li> 210 <li>Four touch buttons in a row below the screen for menu, home, back, 211 and search.</li> 212 <li>Large slide-out tactile keyboard with raised keys.</li> 213 <li>The keyboard features a QWERTY keyboard, PC-style tactile arrow keys 214 and a separate enter button, and tactile buttons for menu, back, home, 215 and search.</li> 216 <li>Includes a dedicated number row at the top of the letter keys. 217 </li> 218 <li>Does not have a start or end call button.</li> 219 <li>The volume rocker and camera buttons are physical buttons located on 220 the left and right sides of the phone respectively. The power button 221 is located along the top edge.</li> 222 <li>The phone is very fast and powerful.</li> 223 <li>In the U.S., available on Sprint.</li> 224 </ul> 225 </li> 226 227 <li><strong>Motorola Droid (US) / Milestone (Europe)</strong> (Android 228 2.2) 229 <ul> 230 <li>Four large touch buttons in a row below the screen for back, menu, 231 home, and search.</li> 232 <li>Slide-out tactile keyboard, though the keys are very flat and not 233 very easy to find by touch.</li> 234 <li>The slide-out keyboard has a QWERTY keyboard, a four-direction pad 235 with a select button in the center, and tactile buttons for search and 236 menu. The four-direction pad is almost flush with the keyboard surface 237 and can be difficult to use.</li> 238 <li>There is no dedicated number row at the top of the letter 239 keys. To type numbers, you have to put the keyboard in symbol mode</li> 240 <li>Does not have a start or end call button. However, you have the 241 option to use the power button as the end call button. You can activate 242 this option in the settings menu.</li> 243 <li>The volume rocker and camera buttons are physical buttons located 244 on the right side of the phone. The power button is located along the 245 top edge. 246 <li>The phone is very fast and powerful.</li> 247 <li>In the U.S., this is available on Verizon.</li> 248 </ul> 249 </li> 250 251 <li><strong>Motorola Droid 2</strong> (Custom Android 2.2) 252 <ul> 253 <li><div class="note"><span class="n">Please note:</span> This 254 phone runs a customized version of Android 2.2. However, this phone does 255 include support for accessibility, and Motorola has even included a few 256 applications targeted for users with low or no vision. But keep in mind 257 that not all applications bundled with this phone by the carrier or 258 Motorola are accessible. For more information on accessible 259 applications, please see the <a href="apps.html"> the section on 260 apps</a>.</div></li> 261 <li>Four small touch buttons in a row below the screen for menu, home, 262 back, and search.</li> 263 <li>Slide-out tactile keyboard with raised keys.</li> 264 <li>The keyboard features PC-style tactile arrow keys and a 265 separate OK button.</li> 266 <li>The keyboard includes tactile buttons for search and 267 back. It also includes a special microphone tactile button that 268 triggers a custom Motorola voice search application.</li> 269 <li>There is no dedicated number row at the top of the 270 letter keys. To type numbers, you have to put the keyboard in 271 symbol mode.</li> 272 <li>This device does not have a start or end call button, but you have 273 the option to use the power button as the end call button. You can 274 activate this option in the settings menu.</li> 275 <li>The volume rocker and camera buttons are physical buttons located on 276 the right side of the phone. The power button is located along the 277 top edge.</li> 278 <li>The phone is very fast and powerful.</li> 279 <li>In the U.S., this is available on Verizon.</li> 280 </ul> 281 </li> 282 283 <li><strong>HTC Dream / HTC G1</strong> (Android 1.6) 284 <ul> 285 <li><div class="note"><span class="n">Please note: </span>This is a 286 first-generation phone, and it is slower and less powerful than most 287 newer phones. Though is not expected to ever be upgraded to Android 2.0, 288 basic accessibility features do work on Android 1.6.</div></li> 289 <li>Four round tactile buttons and a clickable trackball in a row below 290 the screen: start call, home, trackball, back, and end call. There is 291 also a rectangular tactile menu botton located above the trackball. When 292 held down, the end call button functions as the power on/off button.</li> 293 <li>The trackball can access everything that a directional pad can, but 294 it can be difficult to move it precisely without being able to see the 295 screen.</li> 296 <li>Slide-out tactile keyboard with thin but raised keys.</li> 297 <li>The keyboard includes a QWERTY keyboard and tactile menu and search 298 keys.</li> 299 <li>Includes a dedicated number row at the top of the letter 300 keys.</li> 301 <li>Includes every physical button mentioned in the section above. The 302 volume rocker and camera buttons are physical buttons located on the 303 sides of the phone. The power button is located on the front and doubles 304 as the end call button.</li> 305 <li>In the U.S., this is available on T-Mobile.</li> 306 </ul> 307 </li> 308</ul> 309 310<h2>Phones with keyboards - accessibility unknown</h2> 311 312<ul> 313 <li><strong>Motorola Droid Pro</strong> (Unreleased) 314 <ul> 315 <li>Accessibility unknown - please 316 <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/eyes-free/">let us know</a> if 317 you've tried it.</li> 318 </ul> 319 </li> 320 321 <li><strong>Motorola CHARM</strong> (Android 2.1) 322 <ul> 323 <li>In the U.S., available on T-Mobile.</li> 324 <li>Accessibility unknown - please 325 <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/eyes-free/">let us know</a> if 326 you've tried it.</li> 327 </ul> 328 </li> 329 330 <li><strong>T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide</strong> (Custom Android 2.1) 331 <ul> 332 <li>This is an example of a phone with a custom operating system. 333 However, some users have reported that they have been able to use it 334 successfully. If you have more specific information, 335 <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/eyes-free/">let us know</a>.</li> 336 <li>If the same phone, the HTC Espresso, is sold elsewhere in the 337 world with an accessible version of Android, please 338 <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/eyes-free/">let us know</a>.</li> 339 </ul> 340 </li> 341 342 <li><strong>Motorola Devour</strong> (Android 1.6) 343 <ul> 344 <li>In the U.S., available on Verizon.</li> 345 <li>Accessibility unknown - please 346 <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/eyes-free/">let us know</a> if 347 you've tried it.</li> 348 </ul> 349 </li> 350 351 <li><strong>Samsung Intercept</strong> (Android 2.1) 352 <ul> 353 <li>In the U.S., available on Sprint.</li> 354 <li>Accessibility unknown - please 355 <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/eyes-free/">let us know</a> if 356 you've tried it.</li> 357 </ul> 358 </li> 359</ul> 360 361<h2>Phones with keyboards that may not be accessible</h2> 362 363<p>The following phones have QWERTY keyboards but are known to have 364accessibility issues.</p> 365 366<ul> 367 <li><strong>Motorola CLIQ / DEXT</strong> (Android 1.5) 368 <ul><li>Android 1.5 has no accessibility features.</li></ul> 369 370 <li><strong>Motorola Backflip</strong> (Android 1.5) 371 <ul><li>Android 1.5 has no accessibility features.</li></ul> 372 373 <li><strong>LG InTouch Max</strong> (Android 1.5) 374 <ul><li>Android 1.5 has no accessibility features.</li></ul> 375 376</ul> 377 378<h2>Phones without keyboards</h2> 379 380<p>With the exception of devices running Android 4.0 and above, we do not 381recommend Android phones without keyboards for accessibility. For your 382reference, here is a partial list of some of the more popular Android phones 383that <b>do not</b> have a keyboard.</p> 384 385<ul> 386 <li><strong>Acer</strong> (all models)</li> 387 <li><strong>Dell</strong> (all models)</li> 388 <li><strong>Garminfone</strong></li> 389 <li><strong>GeeksPhone One</strong></li> 390 <li><strong>General Mobile DSTL1</strong></li> 391 <li><strong>HTC Aria</strong></li> 392 <li><strong>HTC Desire</strong></li> 393 <li><strong>HTC Droid Eris</strong></li> 394 <li><strong>HTC Droid Incredible</strong></li> 395 <li><strong>HTC EVO 4G</strong></li> 396 <li><strong>HTC Hero</strong></li> 397 <li><strong>HTC Magic / T-mobile MyTouch</strong></li> 398 <li><strong>HTC Tattoo</strong></li> 399 <li><strong>Huawei U8230</strong></li> 400 <li><strong>Lenovo LePhone</strong></li> 401 <li><strong>LG Optimus</strong></li> 402 <li><strong>Motorola CLIQ XT</strong></li> 403 <li><strong>Motorola Droid X</strong></li> 404 <li><strong>Motorola i1</strong></li> 405 <li><strong>Nexus One</strong></li> 406 <li><strong>Samsung Behold 2</strong></li> 407 <li><strong>Samsung Captivate</strong></li> 408 <li><strong>Samsung Galaxy</strong></li> 409 <li><strong>Samsung Galaxy S</strong></li> 410 <li><strong>Samsung Moment</strong></li> 411 <li><strong>Samsung Vibrant</strong></li> 412 <li><strong>Sony Ericsson Xperia X10</strong></li> 413 <li><strong>Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini</strong></li> 414 <li><strong>T-Mobile Pulse</strong></li> 415 <li><strong>T-Mobile Pulse Mini</strong></li> 416</ul> 417 418<p>If you have any information about other Android phones that are or are 419not accessible, please let us know!</p> 420 421<div class="nav"> 422<div class="nav_back"> </div> 423<div class="nav_up"><a href="index.html">Up: Android Accessibility</a></div> 424<div class="nav_next"><a href="enabling.html">Next: Enabling 425Accessibility</a></div> 426</div> 427 428</div> 429</body> 430</html>